


For A Limited Time Only

by leafykeen



Category: Voltron - Fandom, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, F/M, Hunk just wants to help, In one chapter so far, Keith just wants to snark, Kinda, Langst, Pidge is oblivious, Pining, Sick Fic, Sort Of, but also not really, flustered Lance, lance is in denial, love potion, pining lance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-20
Updated: 2018-07-07
Packaged: 2019-04-25 07:35:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14373993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leafykeen/pseuds/leafykeen
Summary: Lance maybe sorta does something that makes Pidge fall in love with him.That's maybe sorta not the worst thing in the world.Third person, but Lance povBecause the only thing to do when you have two unfinished stories going is to start a third, amirite?





	1. Chapter 1

"For you, m'lady."

Pidge chuckled and reached to take the deep purple flower from Lance. "Thanks, m'dude." She sniffed it, and suddenly her eyes glazed over, and she seemed to lose her balance. 

Lance reached out to steady her. "Woah, you okay?" he asked. 

Pidge shook her head, as if to clear it. "Um, yeah. Yeah, I'm fine, I think. Just some vertigo."

"Vertigo?" 

Pidge shrugged. "I'm good now." 

Not long after, Pidge left Lance to join Hunk, and Lance was approached by one of the planet's natives. 

"I see you have given your lady the Oma flower." 

Lance raised an eyebrow. "The what now?" 

The alien gave him what he assumed was a smile. "The Oma flower. It is used to encourage romantic feelings. In fact, very often, the recipient is inclined towards such feelings regardless of their own will in the matter." 

_Oh no._ Lance did not like this at all. "You make it sounds like this is some kind of love lotion or something." 

The alien sniffed in indignation. "Well, I suppose so. If you'd like to put it in such _simple_ terms." 

"I do," Lance said. He was starting to not like this place at all. "So you're saying Pidge will, um, like me against her will? Like, like like?" 

The alien was beginning to lose patience with him, Lance could tell. The feeling was mutual. "Only for a limited time. Typically among our kind, the effects last fifteen or so sunsets. At that time, her feelings will be her own again." 

Lance rolled his eyes. "Oh, so I only have to avoid my teammate who's in love with me for, like, two weeks. That's just great." 

* * *

Lance really did try to avoid Pidge, at first. It was harder than he expected. She seemed to always be right there next to him. But when Lance mentioned it to Hunk, Hunk insisted it was no more than usual. 

Lance was lost in thought the next night at dinner, when he realized Pidge was leaning close. Like, really, really close. Practically speaking in his ear! 

Lance was so startled, he fell out of his chair. 

Pidge looked down at him, shocked. "Are you okay?" 

Lance could feel his face heating up. 

"Um. I'm fine." He returned to his seat, only to find the rest of the team staring at him. 

It was Keith who finally spoke. "You know," he said, "if you'd just pay attention next time Pidge asks you to pass the salt, she might not have to sneak up on you."

Lance was too humiliated to respond. 


	2. Chapter 2

Lance swore Pidge was stalking him. 

Not that be could blame her. She was in love with him against her own will, after all. But things were starting to get a little ridiculous. 

They always arrived at meals at the same time. 

Shiro kept pairing them up for sparring. 

And every time Lance entered a room, Pidge was already there. This girl really needed to be taught some subtlety.

Lance was worried he might start to feel suffocated. He didn't yet, but he still worried. 

Then worry about Pidge would set in. What if she was reacting badly to the flower and didn't even know it? She was allergic to like, everything. 

Lance knew there was only one person he could trust with his secret. 

* * *

"You want me to what now?" 

Lance sighed. "Just monitor her. Make sure she's okay, and there are no other adverse effects."

Hunk crossed his arms, looking skeptical. "You mean other than the obvious?" 

"Yes. Obviously. Look, the guy said it would wear off in like two weeks, so we just need to make sure she's okay for a while." 

The look on Hunk's face made Lance feel very judged. "Why don't you just tell her what happened and then she can let us know if there are any adverse effects on her own?"

Lance was beginning to feel exasperated at Hunk's failure to even try to understand. "If I tell her what happened, it would make things so awkward. Like, forever." Hunk did not look convinced. "Look, dude, she's my best friend after you. I'm just trying not to ruin that. Please don't tell her," he pleaded. 

Hunk sighed, giving up. "Okay, fine. I won't tell her. But if things start to go wrong, you have to tell her. Promise me you'll tell her." 

Lance did. 

* * *

There was a much anticipated movie night that night. 

When it was discovered that Pidge's laptop could be rigged up to play on one of the castles larger monitors, Lance, Hunk, and Pidge had jumped on the idea. It hadn't taken much to persuade Coran and Allura, who were infinity curious about earth culture. Pidge had scrolled through the limited library of movies downloaded to her laptop, reading off titles that might interest the team. Nothing too "violent or action-y" (Hunk's words). After all, they lived that everyday. They finally settled on a really old musical Lance had only see once as a little kid. 

Lance was the last to arrive in what they had dubbed the movie room, in his most comfortable robe and slippers, carrying the blanket from his bed. Everyone else was seated except for him, and Pidge, who was laying on the floor underneath the monitor, working her magic. Lance went to find his seat and- _oh quiznak_. There were only two seats left. And they were _right next to each other_. Clearly Pidge had orchestrated this herself, obviously wanting to be as close as possible to him during the movie. Lance was still standing frozen when he heard someone call his name. 

"Lance? Aren't you going to sit?" Pidge patted the seat next to her on the long couch. Hunk was on her other side, with poor Shiro squeezed in between him and Coran, who was on the end. 

He took a minute to search for Keith and Allura, and found them huddled together under a blanket on the floor. Of course. 

"Um. Yeah." Lance squished in next to Pidge on the couch, painfully aware of how close they were. He felt his face start heating up. Again. 

Pidge reached up to touch his face, and Lance jumped and swatted her hand away. 

"Are you sure you're feeling okay?" Pidge asked, sounding concerned. "You seemed a little lost there, and now your face is all red." 

That certainly didn't help the situation any. Lance willed himself to stop blushing (it didn't work), and said tightly, "I'm fine. Can we just watch the movie?" Pidge shrugged, and leaned forward to hit the space bar on her computer. The movie started with....

...long walks on the beach and declarations of love, all set to romantic music. 

She must have picked this movie on purpose too. Pidge had a problem with just outright saying things, an it occurred to Lance that using a romantic movie like this might just be a ploy. 

Pidge nudged him. "Can you grab the blanket?" 

Lance picked up the blanket from where he'd dropped it on the floor and gave it to Pidge. "Here," he whispered. 

"Thanks," she whispered back, grinning. "I love this movie." 

Yeah, he bet she did. 

The scene changed. The characters were back in school, not even realizing yet that fate would bring them together again. It all made Lance very self-conscious, and he wasn't sure he understood why. At least the songs were catchy. 

Pidge spread the blanket over both of them, and Lance froze up again,and then instantly relaxed, so as not to arouse suspicion. 

Two hours later, the movie ended. Everyone had made up, final declarations of love had been made, drag races had been won. Over all, Lance had enjoyed it. 

He look down at Pidge to see her leaning... against Hunk? Lance was surprised, but at least she had to good sense to not be too obvious in front of their teammates. 

Everyone said goodnight and went to bed. 

Lance shut his door, flopped onto the bed, and screamed into a pillow. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Points to anyone who can guess the movie ;)


	3. Chapter 3

For Lance, obsessing over things led to dreaming about them. Like the time in fourth grade when he was so stressed about a science test that he dreamed, every night for a week, that he showed up to school two hours late with no pants. 

Well that night he dreamed of Pidge. 

He dreamed that she looked at him with heart eyes, like his sister did her boy band posters. He dreamed she laughed at all his stupid jokes, and listened intently when he spoke about his family. He dreamed she graced him with gentle smiles, and played with his hair with her soft, small hands. He dreamed that Pidge leaned in close, hands on his chest, eyes on his lips, and...

Lance woke up. His heart was pounding. He had butterflies in his stomach. 

Oh, _quiznak._

* * *

He couldn't look at her. He could not being himself to lift his eyes off his plate and make eye contact with her. Not when he'd dreamed of _almost kissing his second best friend in the whole world._ No, Lance would stay very focused on his breakfast plate, and very much not interact with Pidge. At all. Ever again. 

After breakfast, the team were headed for the training room when Hunk grabbed Lance and took a detour down another hall. 

"Dude," Hunk said, "what is up with you today?" 

Lance fidgeted. "Nothing's "up" with me." 

"You're barely present. Something's obviously wrong. Are you homesick again?' 

Lance was always homesick, but he didn't always want anyone to know. 

"Look, man, I'm fine." 

Hunk released his hold.of Lance and crossed his arms. "Then why so distracted?" 

"You really wanna know?" 

Hunk nodded. "Of course I do." 

Lance leaned against the wall and slid down to the floor. He pressed his face to is knees and mumbled something Hunk couldn't hear. 

Hunk sat down next to him. "What was that, buddy?" 

Lance looked up at him and said quietly, "I think I like Pidge." 

"Oh." 

"Yeah." 

* * *

Later than night, Pidge invited Lance and Hunk to play video games with her. Lance almost refused, but Hunk had interrupted him to excuse himself, the turned subtly to wink at Lance. 

Lance wasn't an idiot. He knew a setup when he saw it. He agreed to play with Pidge, and spent the first half hour trying to calm his nerves. After that, Lance began to feel like an idiot for having avoided Pidge, and officially decided to stop worrying. Pidge was never, ever going to like him back of her own accord, but there was still the promise of that Oma flower. The more he considered it, the more being the center of Pidge's attention appealed to him. If she wanted him around, he wouldn't waste an opportunity. _Better to have loved and lost,_ he had convinced himself. Even though it would be temporary, Lance would do everything he could to make the most of his time as someone Pidge loved. 

Heaven knew it wouldn't last. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've actually had that same dream before. 
> 
> The being late and having no pants one. Not the kissing my best friend one.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's that angst I can't resist forcing into every fic

Lance wished he'd known Pidge had a migraine before he went and said something so stupid that it made her angry enough for tears. Hunk walked down the hall just as Pidge stumbled back into her room, crying. 

"Dude. What did you do?" 

Lance winced. "I, um. I may have said something a little insensitive about her family? I didn't know she wasn't feeling well at the time." 

Hunk looked incredibly disappointed, and Lance couldn't blame him. "What did you say?" 

Lance didn't want to tell him. "I said that at least only her mom was missing her." 

"Dude..." 

Lance winced again. "I know, I know. I sufficiently hate myself." 

"That's not good enough," Hunk said, shaking his head. 

"I really messed up, didn't I?" 

"Yeah," Hunk replied, and gripped his friend's shoulder, "but you can fix this." 

Lance shook his head in despair. 

"Lance," Hunk said, "go take care of your girl." 

* * *

Lance knocked. Not surprisingly, there was no answer. He waited a moment before entering Pidge's door code. The door slid open, and he stepped into her cluttered room. He didn't see her at first, she was curled up so small on her bed. 

"Pidge?" 

"Go away." It was probably supposed to sound angry, or even threatening, but her shaky voice made Lance's heart hurt too much to leave. 

Lance sat down on the bed, her back turned to him. 

"Listen, Pidge. I'm really sorry." She sniffled, and Lance forced himself to continue. "What I sad was awful, and if I'd known you felt so bad today-" 

Pidge bolted upright and turned to him. "What you said was crappy, whether I felt like my skull was being drilled into or not." 

"Yeah, it was. And I'm sorry." 

Pidge rolled her eyes and flopped back onto her side with a huff. "Just go away, Lance." 

And he did. 

* * *

It just after lunch, approximately two hours later, when Lance knocked on her door again, bowl of food goo in hand. Again, there was no answer. And again, when Lance let himself in, Pidge was curled up on her side, back to him. 

"Pidge?" 

She did not respond, but Lance didn't believe she was asleep. He rested his hand gently on her arm and said softly, "Katie?" 

"What do you want, Lance?" She asked quietly. 

"I brought you food." 

She turned towards him carefully, making a face when she saw the food goo. Lance was pleased, at least, to see no recent evidence of tears. 

"I can't eat that. I'm sorry," she said. 

"Hey, don't be sorry." Lance set the bowl down and turned back to her. "Is there anything else you need?" 

Pidge scowled, and then winced. "Don't act all nice now. I still haven't forgiven you." 

"I am so, so sorry that I said what I said," Lance said, "I had absolutely no right to imply your mom wasn't important, or-" 

"You know she's alone now, right?" 

Lance did know. He nodded. 

"Yeah. She's completely alone, believing my dad and Matt are dead. Thinking that something horrible must have happened to me. All alone, probably without hope, and," her eyes began to fill with tears again, "I spend all my time protecting these people I don't know at all, and I can't even make sure my mom is okay." Pidge covered her face and began to cry in earnest. 

Lance hated himself. How could he hurt her so badly, especially when she had involuntary feelings for him? Pidge might someday forgive him, but he would never forgive himself. His heart absolutely broke listening to her cry, and he began to reach for her before pulling back. "May I hug you?" He asked, uncertain. 

It took a moment, but Pidge nodded, and Lance gathered her into his arms. Pidge returned the embrace, burying her face in his neck. 

"I'm sure your mom is okay," Lance whispered into her hair, "and as soon as we have a way, I promise she'll be the the first one we'll check on." 

Pidge hugged him tighter, continuing to cry. Eventually her sobs slowed, and not long after, Lance thought she was asleep. He would have been happy to stay right there and hold her forever, but was worried the awkward sitting position would only cause her more pain. He began to lay her back down when she stirred. 

"No, please," she looked at him with such sad eyes, Lance could barely stand it, and asked, "stay?" 

Of course he would stay. He slid down next to her, and Pidge positioned herself comfortably against him again. And that's when Lance realized. 

He really loved this girl. 

**Author's Note:**

> My writing is dead to me, but I needed to get this idea out. Sorry it's written so awkwardly.


End file.
